By Ehigimetor Igbaugba
Some youths in Cross River have urged the Federal and state governments to urgently intervene on the collapsed portions of the Ikom-Boki-Obudu Highway.
Some of the youths who spoke to newsmen in Calabar on Sunday, said that no fewer than 80 communities in five local government areas of the state had been cut off.
They expressed worries that the highway had never been rehabilitated after its construction in 1979.
One of them, Dr Assam Etta, told newsmen that the state of the road had left the affected communities in difficult conditions.
Etta said that the 120km-long Ikom-Boki-Obudu Highway was strategically important to communities in Ikom, Etung, Boki, Obanliku and Obudu.
He further said that the Cross River Government had refused to intervene on the road despite repeated appeals from the communities.
“We are compelled to bring this challenge to the notice of the world; we appeal that something should be done urgently.
“The road has become a death trap to us the people of the affected communities and travellers, we can’t take our produce to the markets due to the state of the road.
“Vehicles break down with perishable farm produce on this road, people face pains due to the condition of this road,” he said.
Etta stated that the long neglect of the highway was a sign of government’s failure to respond to the welfare needs of the people.
Also speaking, Mr Wilfred Obun, said that previous attempts at rehabilitating the highway had not been successful, and that the contractors ended up leaving the highway worse than they met it.
Obun said that the road had been awarded and re-awarded several times, expressing worries that no positive results were achieved.
According to him, past interventions by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency have failed to yield lasting results by addressing the situation.
Another youth, Mr Armstrong Agbor, said that residents of the concerned communities would continue to call on government’s attention.
“We have acted peacefully during the weeklong “No Road, No Election” protest. We shall protest again if the government fails to come up with solution,” he said.
Agbor expressed worries that the Cross River government had not done anything after it promised to come up with an action plan in two weeks’ time.
Reacting to the protest, Dr Erasmus Ekpang, the Commissioner for Information, said that although the government had met with the protesters, it did not promise to intervene in two weeks.
Ekpang said that the state government understood the difficulties being faced by the people, and that high-level consultations were ongoing on the matter.
“The government is not unaware of the deplorable state of that road, we are working to see if we can partner FERMA to proffer solution,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Benson Ezugwu and Azubuike Okeh
